Chapter 9

The days passed calmly and the Fourth of July was rapidly approaching. Dorothea was finally able to pin Jon down in one place to finalize plans for the party they were throwing. “Is there anyone else we should be inviting?”

Jake looked up from his spot on the floor where he was playing with a toy. “Bianna tomin’?” 

“Do you think we should invite her?” Dorothea asked with a smile. Brianna was coming out to the house once or twice a week now and she and Jake had become buddies.

“Uh huh.” Jake nodded. “Her fun.”

Turning back to her husband, Dorothea caught the look on his face and frowned. “You didn’t mention the party to her?”

“I completely forgot.  It would probably be a good idea for her to be here though and meet some of the people she’ll be dealing with.”

“Don’t make it a work obligation though. I want her to have fun. And make sure you tell her it’s casual dress and....nevermind, I’ll call her myself.”

“Good idea.” Jon agreed, his relief evident. “Do you want my phone or do you have her number?”

“I’ve certainly got your number!” Dorothea shook her head at him. “For a control freak CEO who ‘wants things the way I want them’, you sure are a wimp about making calls like this.”

“But you’re so much better at this stuff than I am.” At her withering look he kissed the air in her direction.

“Kiss ass.” But she couldn’t entirely suppress her smile.

“What a kiss ass?” Jake asked.

Jon grinned and gave his wife a ‘you said it, not me’ look.

“It’s Daddy when he’s trying to get into Mommy’s good books after he’s been a jerk.” Dorothea answered dryly.

July fourth was a typical hot, sunny summer day.  Luckily for Brianna, it was her favourite type of weather – that and a good thunderstorm. There was just something primal and exhilarating about watching Mother Nature flex her muscles in a display of growling energy and electricity.

Driving through the gates of the Bongiovi estate, she parked in what was rapidly becoming ‘her’ parking spot near the house. She stepped out and shook out the skirt of her floral print sundress, bending to pet Copper who’d come to greet her as usual. When Dorothea called to invite her to their annual bash, she’d stressed that it was non-work related fun and to dress casual. But Brianna knew there would be a lot of people there that she would need to work with in the future and she wanted to make a good first impression. So she compromised. Flat sandals instead of heels and a small notebook in her purse instead of her briefcase...and a ponytail. “Hello boy. Where is everyone?”

Copper started towards the side of the house, turning once to look back at her. “Woof!”

Brianna laughed. “Okay, I’m coming.”

She followed the dog around to the back of the house where several tables with chairs had been set up and a couple dozen people were either sitting or mingling around. A group of kids were throwing a football around closer to the river. Near the house a makeshift bar had been set up.

“Brianna!  You made it!” Dorothea had seen her and approached to welcome her. As she looked the other woman over her lips twitched. “You look gorgeous, but is that what you call casual?”

“Pretty much.” Brianna stuck out one foot. “No heels.” When their laughter wound down she smiled wryly. “I wasn’t sure who all was going to be here, Jon being who he is, or whether your idea of casual and mine were the same, so...”

“Ah. I guess I can see your dilemma. But we’re not dressy type people and I want you to be comfortable when you’re here. I should have said shorts and tank. Next time I’ll be more specific. Come on. I’ll introduce you to the people you don’t know.”

They stopped first at the bar where Jon’s brother Matt was mixing drinks. Dorothea introduced them.

“Oh, so you’re the latest lamb to the slaughter.” Matt shook her hand and passed over a glass of wine. “Start with this. It’s Jon’s latest favourite. It’ll go easier on you if you like it too. Let me know if you need something stronger. Nice to meet you. Good luck.”

Brianna laughed. “Thanks...I think.”

After making the rounds Dorothea went to check on food supplies and Brianna sat down to make a few notes before she forgot the conversations she’d just had with the Soul executives.

“Brianna?”

Lifting her head she saw two pre-teen girls standing beside her chair. “Hey Steph.”

“This is Gabi.” She gestured to the blonde girl with her.

“David’s Gabi?”

“Yeah. Hi.” Gabi answered.

“Nice to meet you Gabi.”

“Would you do our hair in that twisty thing like you usually have yours?” Stephanie asked holding out a brush and several bobby pins.”

“Sure.” Brushing out Stephanie’s long tresses, a few quick twists and strategically placed pins and she was done. The girls exchanged places and she did the same for Gabi. “There you go.”

Hands lightly patted the twists.  “Thanks!” With that they took off into the house in search of mirrors.

Glancing around, Brianna tested her memory, matching names and faces of everyone she’d met on her tour of the backyard. Aside from the Soul executives, there were several senior members of the BJM team, friends...and of course family.  John Sr. had been welcoming and charming – she could see where Jon got his charisma from – while Carol had been polite, but more reserved.

There was a lot of nice eye candy to look at too, since many of the men had removed their shirts in the heat. The fact that her gaze was drawn repeatedly to one in particular she chalked up to the fact that he was her boss and she should keep on the lookout for any signals that he needed something, and had nothing to do with the firm, sculpted masculine flesh he was displaying.......that was her story and she was sticking to it. Or maybe she was just horny. Lord knew it had been a long time since there’d been a man in her bed, temporary or otherwise, but between the divorce and starting this new job there had been neither the inclination nor the time to look for one. She’d just have to be satisfied with the battery operated version a while longer.

David caught her eye and gestured for her to join him where he was standing with Paul. As she approached him, the twinkle in his eyes made her wary.

“Did you do Gabi’s hair?” He could pretend he noticed and that it wasn’t his daughter gushing over it that tipped him off.

“Yes.”

“Nice job.” He sipped his drink. “So, Paul and I were just thinking about what you should be prepared for when it comes to the tour.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. So...as you probably already know, our illustrious leader is a perfectionist with a nasty temper. He wants things the way he wants them, when he wants them. Like his coffee. You have to bring it to him at precisely seven am every morning. Cream, three sugars. And he likes mangoes with his breakfast. Fresh ones.” He sipped again. “His hair requires an egg white and lemon conditioning treatment every other day and brushed a hundred strokes every day. And he doesn’t do it himself. And he doesn’t like hotel sheets. He says they chafe his skin. He brings his own. It will be your job to put them on his bed...and of course look after his laundry. And heaven help you if you don’t do it right.”

The last item – his laundry – was the only thing on the list that she could believe. A glance at Paul revealed he was trying not to laugh. “How many poor, gullible assistants have you terrorized with that list?”

Blonde eyebrows rose. “You don’t believe me?”

“Well I’ll give you the perfectionist with a temper who wants things the way he wants them, but that’s as far as I’ll go.” At the men’s curious looks, she snorted. “For starters he likes his coffee black, I doubt very much he wants to be awakened at seven am after he probably didn’t get to sleep until three or four, and I know better than to even mention his hair.”

Paul smirked at David. “Forgot she’s a fan didn’t you.”

David just shrugged. He wasn’t ready to admit defeat yet.  “But there’s some things the fans don’t know that she needs to be aware of.” He turned back to Brianna. “As his personal assistant, you get to be his punching bag.  Whenever one of us pisses him off he’ll take it out on you.”

Hoping he was just being...well...David, she looked at Paul and was relieved to see him shaking his head.

“Come on Lemma, don’t scare her off. Jon may have a short fuse, but he’s fair. He usually only takes it out on the one that set him off.”

“Unless he’s just in a foul mood. Then she still will take the brunt of it.” David argued.

Paul couldn’t disagree. “Well...yeah...but it doesn’t happen that often.” He ignored David’s choking sounds. “And I bet she can handle it.”

“It wouldn’t be anything I haven’t dealt with before.” Brianna assured them. It wasn’t her favourite part of the job as assistant to a CEO, but she could deal with it. “I’m used to being the buffer. I can handle it.”

She had no idea that boast would be put to the test in a way even David could never imagine.